Embracing Change: Reflecting on Life’s Inevitable Shifts

Hey friends, how are you today? Wow, can you believe February is almost over? We are near the end of the second month of 2026. Sometimes, it feels like 2025 never ended. It’s still winter. There is still snow on the ground. The squirrels still play tag. Our God is still the same God (which is good news). So many things remained the same.

Did we remain the same though? The year is now 2026. It’s a new year. The pages of each day have yet to unfold. Each day, the Lord allows, is a brand-new day. How will the end of today look? How do I want today to end? I have made plans for today. There are tasks I want to complete. There are activities I plan to attend. Will today be the same Wednesday as last week?

New days, new weeks, new year. Prayerfully new me. I do love new days. Truly, life is so short, I am thankful for each new day. But am I the same person I was last year? Is it possible for people to remain unchanged? I’m not sure that’s possible. We either progress or we regress. Change, within us, is inevitable. Even though we can’t see it… yet.

Life, as a Christian, is like a backward, forward treadmill. We never stand still. We either draw closer to Jesus or we slowly but surely revert to our ‘old nature’. Change is inevitable. Circumstances change us. People can change us. Places can also bring about change. The Word of God will definitely change us.

Should the change be inevitable or deliberate? Or can change be brought about by both? I think both. I lost more than one childhood friend in 2025; one was younger than me. After one death, my heart was broken. Then there was the second and then a third. All died unexpectedly because they all were rather ‘young’.

Before their deaths, most of the people in my life lived long lives. I assumed that would be the story of the people in my life. I assumed that would be my story. Although I didn’t say the words, I assumed time was mine. After the third death, I realized I had to change my thinking.

The assumption that I would live a long life was not intentional. My grandpa was 94, my grandmother was 87. My dad was almost 80. Although I was thankful for each new day, I don’t think I ever truly appreciated the gift of time.

Time is a gift, isn’t it? New days are not guaranteed. Today matters. What I do today matters. My time has value. How I use my time is important. I’ve also realized something else. My beliefs determine my use of time.

What do I then believe? Sometimes I lie to myself. I think I believe one thing, but my actions say something completely different. I say the words, but the truth of it has yet to take root in my soul. My actions and my words do not align.

A few days ago, I ask myself a question. I know… I know… Sounds crazy, right? But stick with me for a moment. I said, “Brenda, what’s the hardest thing you’ve ever endured?” I went down the list of all my hardships. My childhood abuse, that was life changing. My miscarriage, that also brought change. There is so much more. I want to say, perhaps too much, Lord.

But then I realized something. Yes… these circumstances altered my life. That was inevitable (see we are getting back to the point). But even harder than these was my reactions to these events. The Bible tells me how to handle these crises. The Lord tells me to expect these trials. Yet at the arrival of each hardship, I feel like a wave. I’m tossed to and fro by my feelings.

The trials of life are truly trying. That’s why they’re called trials. But that in itself isn’t the hardest thing in our lives. The hardest part of these trials is what I do, as I go through it. Most times, I just want to lay down, right next to it. I’m one of those people, who turn inward, when life gets hard. I don’t talk. And I stay away from people. That’s my default position.

One would think that the more trials we go through, the better we get at the handling of it. But now the ‘handling’ of it is intentional. Sometimes, I tell the Lord, it’s too much. It’s too hard, Father, I can’t bear it. There was no warning, Lord. (Well actually there was, I just didn’t expect it). Why didn’t I expect it though?

My beliefs determine my actions. What I believe about life, about time, about God, about me, about people matters. How do I know what I believe? Take a true look at my actions. They speak louder than my words.

My words said, I value time. But in reality, my actions said, I have all the time in the world. With that point of view, I lived life like I had all the time in the world. I forgot what the Lord said about life. Although I said I appreciate each new day, my actions throughout the day did not agree. I lived for me, far more than I lived for the Lord. How do I know that?

Because God loves people. I know… I know… sometimes, I’m surprised too. He does, He truly loves people. He loves you and me and every single person in the world. He loves everyone, no exception. The ‘good’ (for there is no one good), the bad (need I say more?) and the ugly.